DEKDEAGAPUS OBSCUEUS. Elliot. 
DUSKY GROUSE. 
TETRAO OBSCUEUS. Say. Long. Exp. Eocky Mts., vol. ii., 1833, p. 14.— Bon. Syn., 1828, p. 127.— Ib. Mon. Tetrao, Am. Phil. Trans., vol. iii., 
1830, p. 391. — Ib. Amer. Ornith., vol. iii., 1828, PI. xviii. — Newb. Eep. P. E. E. Snrv., vol. vi., 1857, p. 93. — Gray, Gen. of Birds, 
vol. iii. — Baird, P. E. E. Exp. and Surv. Zool., vol. ix., p. 620. — G. E. Gray, Cat. Birds, Brit. Mns., Part iii., p. 46 (1844). — Bon. 
Geog. and Comp. List Birds, p. 43, No. 283. — Coop, and Siickl. Nat. Hist. Wash. Territ., p. 218. 
CANACE OBSCUEUS. Bonp. Compt. Eend., vol. xlv., 1857, p. 428. 
DENDEAGAPUS OBSCUEUS. Elliot, Proceed. Acad. Nat. Scien. (1864), p. 
The Dusky, Blue, or Pine Grouse, by either or all of which names it is known, is next in size to the Cock-of-the-plains, of the American 
portion of this family, and like that species is also an inhabitant of the Western part of the United States. But it differs from the Sage Cock, 
which is a prairie-loving bird, in making its home amid the mountains and dense spruce forests. It is very abundant in the main chain of the 
Eocky Mountains, the Black Hills of Nebraska, the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, and thence to the Pacific, wherever the country is wooded 
sufficiently to afford it shelter. 
The male, like several other species of American Grouse, possesses the power of inflating a sack on each side of its neck, and producing a 
mournful sound by exhausting the air in the same. Thus, in the spring, where these birds are plenty, this peculiar call may be heard on every 
side, and, like the drumming of the Euffed Grouse [Bonasa Umhellus), it seems to possess the power of ventriloquism ; for should you seek the 
bird, guided by the noise, you would probably discover that it came from quite a different direction from that apparently indicated by the sound. 
In November the Dusky Grouse are generally missed from their accustomed haunts, and will not be met with again, save perhaps now and 
then a straggler, until the following spring. This disappearance has given rise to many theories among the inhabitants of the regions in which 
it dwells ; one of which is similar to that formerly entertained of the swallow, that they pass the winter in a state of torpidity, not, however, 
in this case, in the mud, but among the thick-clustering foliage of the evergreens. It is a weU-known fact, that the Euffed Grouse, as the 
winter grows severe, leaves the mountain sides, where it has perhaps passed the summer, and descends to the warmer temperature of the thick 
swamps, there to remain until the ice melts under the rays of the returning sun. And without doubt the present species also, leaves its summer 
haunts, and either descends to the milder climate of the valleys, or migrates to a limited extent southward. 
My friend Dr. Geo. Suckley, in his Natural History of Washington Territory, gives the following interesting account of the disappearance 
and habits of this Grouse : 
* * * * “ In the autumn, about November 15th, they generally disappear, and it is rare indeed to see a single individual of the species 
during the interval between that period and about March 20th of the following year. Concerning the whereabouts of this bird dui’ing 
the winter, there are many opinions among the settlers. Some maintain that the species is migratory, and that they retire to the south, 
while others say that they repair to the tops of the highest evergreen trees, where, in the thickest foliage of the branches, they pass the 
cold season in a state of semi-torpor, rarely or never descending until warm weather comes on. As they subsist well on the leaves of 
the coniferse, and can always obtain sufficient water from the snow and rain drops on the leaves to supply their necessities, I have but 
httle doubt that this latter is the correct account, or that, if migratory, they are but partially so. 
“I saw one bird of this species on the ground during a fall of snow, in January, 1854, near the Nisqually Eiver, Washington Terri- 
tory ; and I have been told that a man near Olympia, Washington Territory, whose eyesight is excellent, is able any day during the 
winter to obtain several birds by searching carefully for them in the tops of the tallest and most thickly leaved firs. This requires eyesight 
of greater power than most men possess. 
“Even in the summer, when these birds are generally lower in the trees, it is very difficult to find them among the dense branches. 
They have, in addition to their sombre hues, the advantage of their habit of crowding very closely to the limbs, and of sitting almost im- 
movably for hours. The first indication, in the spring, of their arrival (?) or activity (?), is the courting call of the male. This call is a 
prolonged noise, sounding much like the whir of a rattan cane whirled suddenly through the air. It is repeated quickly several times, and 
then stops for a brief interval. This noise is said to be produced by inflating and contracting a couple of sacks on each side of the 
throat, which are for the most part concealed when collapsed, and are covered by an orange-yellow, thick, corrugated, unfeathered skin. 
